January's Book of the Month

Hello Everyone! I chose the picture posted above because it reminds me of reading to my daughter Mareena when she was little. Every afternoon until she was about eight or nine years old, we would take one of her books that she wanted to read or that she was reading and we would curl up together on my big bed. 

We would spend an hour or so reading a chapter of her book, and then take a nap together. Her absolutely favorite author at that time was an English author named Enid Blyton. Ahh, nice memories...

My picks for 'Books of the Month' will be decidedly more adult these days, but they will be from almost any genre. January's Book of the Month is: 

Without a Backward Glance by Kate Veitch

Published as: Listen in January 2006

Publisher: Penguin

Birth Name: Kate Veitch

Born: 1955 in Adelaide, South Australia

Canonical Name: Kate Veitch

Pseudonyms: None

Without a Backward Glance was the second book that I read in 2011. I have had this book on my TBR bookshelf since November 19, 2010 although I actually read in January of 2011. It took me three days to read this book and it is definitely a keeper for me.  

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Belva Plain - Random Winds

6. Random Winds by Belva Plain (1980)
Length: 528 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 22 January 2011
Finished: 29 January 2011
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 2 October 2010
Why do I have it? I love Belva Plain as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.


Spanning from a quiet turn-of-the-century upstate New York community to a war-torn London, from the bedsides of the poor to a bustling New York emergency room, this book follows three generations in a family of doctors - the Farrells. The Farrells are brilliant, dedicated...and subject to a love that will bring them to the brink of destruction. I enjoyed this book from one of my favorite authors. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Maureen S. Pusti - Neighbors

5. Neighbors by Maureen S. Pusti (1991)
Length: 395 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 20 January 2011
Finished: 21 January 2011
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 30 November 2010
Why do I have it? I like horror and Maureen S. Pusti is a new author for me.

Kristen Roberts and her family have arrived in a lovely college town in Pennsylvania. Kris had a creepy feeling about her house, the town and especially her nosy next door neighbor but forgot about her feelings in the stress of moving. Now, as cracks appear in her idyllic marriage, Kris begins to feel an encroaching evil about the town and especially in the personalities of her neighbors.

I really enjoyed this horror story and give it an A! Maureen S. Pusti is a new author for me. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes old-fashioned horror.

A! -(90-95%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Og Mandino - The Greatest Miracle in the World

4. The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino (1975)
Length: 128 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 13 January 2011
Finished: 19 January 2011
Where did it come from? My best friend Sylvia and I were going to lunch together and while driving there we were discussing our favorite books and authors. Sylvia loaned this book to me to read as her favorite book of all time.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 2 January 2011
Why do I have it? I don't usually like overly-Christian books. I am a Christian and certainly like books with strong spiritual or Christian themes, I just don't like overly-preachy books if that makes sense to you. This book peaked my interest.


An editor strikes up an unusual friendship with a down on his luck man named Simon. Simon tells the editor that Simon helps people in his life who need it. He also requests that his new friend help him publish a prayer manuscript at "the right time". The friendship lasts through many mysterious events and tests the editor's faith in many ways. I enjoyed this book very much. It drew you in and was very thought-provoking. I give it an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - Heaven in Your Hand

3. Heaven in Your Hand by Norah Lofts (1958)
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started: 10 January 2011
Finished: 12 January 2011
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 January 2011
Why do I have it? This was the second book in a mandatory three book request sent to me to read from Malaysia. Plus I like anything by Norah Lofts.

I didn't realize that Norah Lofts had a short story collection, but when I found this I had to have it. It had been read to bits already but I didn't mind, I gobbled this up right away. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Kate Veitch - Without a Backward Glance

2. Without a Backward Glance by Kate Veitch (2008)
(Originally Published as: Listen) (2006)
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 2 January 2011
Finished: 5 January 2011
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 19 November 2010
Why do I have it? I like stories about family dynamics and Kate Veitch is a new author for me.

When the four McDonald children's mother leaves them on Christmas Eve 1967, she tells them that it's to get more Christmas lights. Instead, Rosemarie hops a plane to London and disappears for forty years, leaving her husband and children with the burning question: Why?

Over the years, the children become very adept at hiding the feelings of hurt they have at their mother's abandonment; remaining close into adulthood as they start their own families. Until old wounds are reopened by a chance encounter in the street forty years later. Now, with their beloved father suffering dementia, old secrets come to light as the children each deal with their mother's return in their own way.

I truly enjoyed this book. I found it interesting that it took place in Australia as I have never really read anything in the setting of Australia. There was a glossary of Australian terms and slang that was very helpful. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Elaine Booth Selig - Demon Summer

1. Demon Summer by Elaine Booth Selig (1979)
Length: 193 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 27 December 2010
Finished: 1 January 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 November 2009
Why do I have it? I love horror and Elaine Booth Selig is a new author for me.

John Spencer has come to Fire Island with his lovely wife Kathy and their baby in the hopes of ministering to a new congregation. His friend has come up to visit and to help get the ministry up and running as they have huge plans for it. When the friend is accidently drowned, John and Kathy's marriage and John's ministry is put to the test. While John battles his inner demons, Kathy begins to have horrific nightmares and darkly sexual dreams that lead to revelations of death and madness.

This was quite an interesting read. The first of the new year. I give it an A!

A! - (90-95%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for December at Moonshine and Rosefire

Hello everyone out there and I hope that you all had a terrific reading month for yourselves. I am known as Rosefire around the Internet and this is my new personal reading blog. I originally posted my reviews over at my daughter's blog, Emeraldfire's Bookmark but am now in the process of transferring them all over to my own blog. My daughter makes blogging look like so much fun that I thought that I would try it out for myself! :)

Anyway, I started out December with about 656 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 651 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from authors and from Bookmooch.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
- The Green Man by Lee Mather
- Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party by David Lavender
- False Witness by Dorothy Uhnak
- Blood Sisters by Judith Henry Wall

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Handsome Women by Judith Henry Wall
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait of Her Private Years by Lester David
- Eden Burning by Belva Plain


Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Running From the Law by Lisa Scottoline
- Houses Without Doors by Peter Straub
- Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham

Well, there it is...the breakdown! All in all, a very good reading month for me. Here's a further breakdown:

Books Read: 5
Pages Read: 1,124
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

So, there you go! The reading month that was December. I hope that you all had an equally good reading month; if not a little better. :) See you all next month! :)



Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Yearly Reading Wrap-up at Moonshine and Rosefire

Hello everyone out there and I hope that you all had a terrific reading year for yourselves. I am known as Rosefire around the Internet and this is my new personal reading blog. I originally posted my reviews over at my daughter's blog, Emeraldfire's Bookmark but am now in the process of transferring them all over to my own blog. My daughter makes blogging look like so much fun that I thought that I would try it out for myself! :)

Anyway, I started out January with about 651 unread books lying around the house and ended the year with 651 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this year came from Bookmooch and Paperback Swap and Library Book Sales. Quite a number of my books that I read this month left my house to go to new homes so that's something I guess. :)

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Re-reads:
- Blessings by Belva Plain
- A Paper Life by Tatum O'Neal

- Duma Key by Stephen King
- The Shadow Guest by Hillary Waugh
- Life Lines by Jill Ireland

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
- The Green Man by Lee Mather
- Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party by David Lavender
- False Witness by Dorothy Uhnak
- Blood Sisters by Judith Henry Wall

- One True Thing by Anna Quindlen
- Memories of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon
- The Architect by Keith Ablow
- The Ruins by Scott Smith
- Still Talking by Joan Rivers and Richard Meryman
- The Sight of the Stars by Belva Plain
- The Deadly Gift by Norah Lofts
- Psychward by Stephen B. Seager, M. D.
- Treasures by Belva Plain
- Summer's End by Danielle Steel
- Running From the Law by Lisa Scottoline
- Thinner by Stephen King
- Whispers by Belva Plain
- Bride of Moat House by Norah Lofts
- The Midnight Hour by Karen Robards
- Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy
- Promises by Belva Plain
- Quentins by Maeve Binchy
- The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher
- A Secret Affair by Barbara Taylor Bradford
- Back When we Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

- Ordinary People by Judith Guest
- A Summer Bird-Cage by Margaret Drabble
- The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down by Andrew Young
- Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss
- Wither by J. G. Passarella
- Under Gemini by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Sleep Long, my Love by Hillary Waugh
- The Tarnished Eye: A Novel of Suspense by Judith Guest
- Another View by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Down by the Water by Caroline Upcher
- Voices in Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher
- A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer by Nina Burleigh
- A Case of Need by Michael Crichton
- Nora, Nora by Anne Rivers Siddons
- The Desert Crop by Catherine Cookson
- Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Nothing But the Best by Diane Masters
- A Lady in the Lake: The True Account of Death and Discovery in Lake Placid by George Christian Ortloff
- Blessings by Belva Plain
- Julia by Peter Straub
- Ruin Creek by David Payne
- The Unholy by Michael Falconer Anderson
- Homecoming by Belva Plain
- The Forbidden Zone by Whitley Strieber
- The Visitor by Jere Cunningham
- The Perfect Summer by Luanne Rice
- Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy
- Celebrity Detox: (The Fame Game) by Rosie O'Donnell
- Blessings by Anna Quindlen
- The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
- Moment of Truth by Lisa Scottoline
- The Sweet Taste of Burning: A Novel of the Occult by Paul Andreota
- Woman Vanishes by Caroline Crane
- The Stars Shine Down by Sidney Sheldon
- Blind Eye: How the Medical Establishment Let a Doctor Get Away With Murder by James B. Stewart

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Handsome Women by Judith Henry Wall

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait of Her Private Years by Lester David
- Eden Burning by Belva Plain

- The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers
- The Summit Sojourners by William Ridley
- Cities of the Dead by Linda Barnes
- Neighbors by Maureen S. Pusti
- Great Irish Tales of Horror: A Treasury of Fear by Peter Haining
- Prime Evil: New Stories by the Masters of Modern Horror by Douglas E. Winter
- Erica Wilson's Children's World by Janet Wilson
- Random Winds by Belva Plain

- Hill Towns by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Missing: Missing Without Trace in Ireland by Barry Cummins
- Dead Air by Bob Larson
- Faithless by Karin Slaughter
- Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard
- Secrecy by Belva Plain
- Amazing World of Spiders by Janet Craig
- The House of Thunder by Dean Koontz
- The Covenant of the Flame by David Morrell
- Country Kitchen Collection: Fruit Basket by House Regency
- How to Know Wild Flowers: A Simple Aid to Flower Recognition by Alfred Stefferud
- Elizabeth the Great: A Biography by Elizabeth Jenkins
- You Cannot be Serious by John McEnroe
- The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier
- Island Murders by Wanda Canada
- Audition: A Memoir Barbara Walters
- The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
- The Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble
- The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher

- Another View by Rosamunde Pilcher
- The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
- A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer
- Victim of Love by Dyan Sheldon
- The Banquet by Carolyn Slaughter
- The Obedient Wife by Julia O'Faolain
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- London: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd
- The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherfurd
- The Covenant by Michael Falconer Anderson
- The Glenna Powers Case by Hillary Waugh
- Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
- One True Thing by Anna Quindlen
- Hunter's Blood by Jere Cunningham
- The King's General by Daphne du Maurier
- The Good Mother by Sue Miller
- Victims by Dorothy Uhnak
- Needlepoint For Everyone by Mary Picken
- Breaking Point by Daphne du Maurier
- Change Baby by June Spence
- The Servant by Robin Maugham
- Doll's Eyes by Bari Wood

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))

- Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
- Running From the Law by Lisa Scottoline
- Houses Without Doors by Peter Straub
- Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham

- Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz
- Sudden Mischief by Robert B. Parker
- Perry Mason Solves the Case of the Lucky Loser by Erle Stanley Gardner
- Rabbit Redux by John Updike
- The Way Through the Woods by Colin Dexter
- Small Vices by Robert B. Parker
- The Uninvited by John Farris
- The Ruins by Scott Smith
- How to Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong
- Plague Ship by Frank G. Slaughter
- His Way by Kitty Kelley
- Denial by Keith Ablow
- Julia by Peter Straub
- The Body in the Bouillon by Katherine Hall Page
- Houses of Stone by Barbara Michaels
- Immoral Certainty by Robert K. Tanenbaum
- Brain by Robin Cook
- The Advocate's Devil by Alan M. Dershowitz
- The Passion of Molly T. by Lawrence Sanders
- No Mercy by John Walsh
- Under Gemini by Rosamunde Pilcher
- The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Flowers in the Rain by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Another View by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Halfway Home: My Life 'Til Now by Ronan Tynan
- Rage by Wilbur Smith
- Nickel Dreams: My Life by Tanya Tucker and Patsy Bale Cox
- That Camden Summer by LaVyrle Spencer
- Condor by Graham Masterton
- A Notorious Woman by Malcolm MacDonald
- Home Free by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
- Down by the Water by Caroline Upcher
- Just Desserts: The Unauthorized Biography of Martha Stewart by Jerry Oppenheimer
- You Have the Right to Remain Silent by Barbara Paul
- Blood Shot by Sara Paretsky
- Santa Fe Rules by Stuart Woods
- A Lady in the Lake: A True Account of Death and Discovery in Lake Placid by George Christian Ortloff

- Death of a Harvard Man by Simon Schama
- Once Upon a Time: A True Tale of Memory by Harry MacLean
- The Ice House by Nina Bawden
- Suddenly by Barbara Delinsky
- Fit For Life by Harvey Diamond
- 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
- The Queen Mother: The Story of Elizabeth, the Commoner Who Became Queen by Helen Cathcart
- Kill me Again by Leslie Rule
- The First Mrs. Winston by Rae Foley
- Voices in Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Wither by J. G. Passarella
- The Spring of the Tiger by Victoria Holt
- The Three Theban Plays: Antigone/Oedipus the King/Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles and Robert Fagles
- The Covenant by James A. Michener
- The Blue Corn Murders by Nancy Pickard
- The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer
- Moment of Truth by Lisa Scottoline
- The Girl on the Beach by Velda Johnston
- What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist: The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England by Daniel Pool

- Doc by Jack Olsen
- Looking For Rachel Wallace by Robert B. Parker
- The Times of my Life by Betty Ford
- Unanswered Cries: A True Story of Friends, Neighbors and Murder in a Small Town by Thomas French
- Chocolate For a Woman's Soul: 77 Stories to Feed Your Spirit and Warm Your Heart by Kay Allenbaugh
- The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
- Never Let Them See You Cry by Edna Buchanan
- A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer by Nina Burleigh
- The Children of Abraham by Marek Halter
- The Desert Crop by Catherine Cookson
- Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward
- All I Could Get by Scott Lasser
- Celebrity Detox: (The Fame Game) by Rosie O'Donnell
- Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
- Cutthroat by Michael Slade
- Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz
- Ghosts by Ed McBain
- She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
- The Genesis Code by John Case
- Holy Pictures by Clare Boylan
- The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
- Death Row Women: Shocking Stories of America's Most Vicious Females by Tom Kuncl
- Arson and Old Lace by Sylvia Angus
- The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
- The Rosewood Casket by Sharyn McCrumb
- QB VII by Leon Uris
- The Thanatos Syndrome by Walker Percy
- Five For Sorrow, Ten For Joy by Rumer Godden
- The Man Who Loved His Wife by Vera Caspary
- Come Winter by Evan Hunter
- Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
- Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde
- The Centurions by Damion Hunter
- One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens
- Life of the Party: The Biography of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman by Christopher Ogden

- A Painted House by John Grisham
- The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
- Woman Vanishes by Caroline Crane
- The Daughters of Cain by Colin Dexter
- Glass People by Gail Godwin
- Kiss me Again, Stranger by Daphne du Maurier
- The Complete Home Decorator: More Than 200 Practical Projects to Transform Your Home, With Over 1000 Color Photographs by Stewart and Sally Walton
- The End of the Dream: The Golden Boy Who Never Grew Up: Ann Rule's Crime Files Volume 5 by Ann Rule
- At Weddings and Wakes by Alice McDermott
- Act of Darkness by Francis King
- The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
- Lincoln by Gore Vidal
- Speak For the Dead by Margaret Yorke
- My Sister the Moon by Sue Harrison
- Through Violet Eyes by Stephen Woodworth
- Britannia Mews by Margery Sharp
- Cutco Cookbook World's Finest Cutlery Volume 1 by Margaret Mitchell
- Women's Work by Anne Tolstoi Wallach
- Timeless Healing by Herbert Benson
- Taltos by Anne Rice
- Sacrificial Ground by Thomas H. Cook
- Blind Eye: How the Medical Establishment Let a Doctor Get Away With Murder by James B. Stewart
- Ghost Train by Stephen Laws
- Cabal by Clive Barker
- The Misbegotten Son by Jack Olsen
- The Trunk Murderess: Winnie Ruth Judd by Jana Bommersbach
- The Keys to the Street by Ruth Rendell
- The Doubleman by C. J. Koch
- A Dark Place by Aaron Elkins
- Castle Barebane by Joan Aiken
- And a Voice to Sing With by Joan Baez
- No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell
- The Widows of Broome by Arthur Upfield
- The Fury by John Farris
- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
- Flesh Wounds by Mick Cochrane
- Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder by Ann Rule

Well, there it is...the breakdown! All in all, a very good reading year for me. Here's a further breakdown:

Books Read: 66
Pages Read: 21,663
Grade Range: A+! to C!

So, there you go! The reading year that was 2010! I hope that you all had an equally good reading year; if not a little better. :) See you all next year! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight